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Dolphins Try To Save Dying Dolphin

Kyum J Park of the Cetacean Research Institute in Ulsan, Korea and colleagues saw this in the East Sea off the coast of South Korea. They routinely monitor cetaceans off the South Korea coast.

The behaviour was reported in the journal Marine Mammal Science.

This kind of behaviour has been seen before. In the mid 20th Century, a bottlenose dolphin was seen using her back to lift her stillborn calf to the surface of the water.

During a survey a small group of at least 12 dolphins were seen swimming very slowly separate from the pod.

One of the dolphins appeared to have paralysed flippers and red marks on its belly - it was wriggling about with its abdomen showing to the surface.

10 dolphins took it in turns to form a raft using their bodies. They lined up horizontally supporting the sick dolphin from underneath. One of the dolphins even flipped over to better support the sick dolphin and another used its beak to keep the sick dolphins head up.

Unfortunately the dolphin appeared to die, but still 5 dolphins stayed with it, rubbing and touching it and swimming underneath to release bubbles onto it.